Vice President, Senior Vice President, Vice President, mid-level
Management and Employees. This corresponds directly in Relationship
Marketing to yourself as the CEO, the top level of the pyramid and those in
your downline filling your first line of Associates, those they sponsor filling
your second line, third line, fourth line, etc. This can go many levels deep
encompassing hundreds, thousands even tens of thousands of distributors all
contributing to some degree to your success.
As in Traditional Business, Relationship Marketing has adopted the Pyramid.
In a Traditional Business you are highly unlikely to rise to the top. There are
only so many management positions open. Favoritism or nepotism may mean
more than ability in determining job position and compensation. Union
contracts set production standards that you are not to exceed. Your
compensation is often no higher than those who contribute minimal effort.
Promotion and pay are determined by the success of the overall effort. You
only have a small part in the overall picture and certainly cannot unless you
are in sales (and often not even then), determine your pay. Raises when given
are at annual intervals and often not adequate to your contribution.
Recognition for a job well done is largely non-existent. You may be laid off
or fired for reasons beyond your control. The job itself may be mind-
numbingly repetitive.
Even if highly dissatisfied with your job you may be reluctant to change jobs.
You have already learned that the grass is not necessarily greener at another
company.
The traditional business model is not built for the individual’s success. It is
successful because it is the most efficient form in which to manage people.
Goals are set at the top and everyone has their assigned job that contributes to
the whole.
Think of a beehive – the ultimate in rational management practice. The
Queen bee has a single purpose, to birth bees that contribute in many ways to
the viability of the hive; construction, repair, exploration, gathering pollen,
heat regulation (too hot or too cold and the hive dies), protection, raising the
young and not the least of which is the care and feeding of the Queen herself.
When a Queen dies the bee, colony selects another to fill this role. Even the
Queen is trapped in the system. She is fed the finest food the colony can